As I sit in rainy, grey England, fighting a most exhausting head cold, it’s hard to believe that less than a week ago I walked along Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma, San Diego.

Seeing as how my energy is somewhat limited right now, I thought I’d just share a few of the pictures I’ve enjoyed looking at as I revisit my latest holiday. These images focus on seagulls within their environment (no close-ups), but if you look closely, you might see a cormorant, too.

This image is a crop of the first image to focus in on the seagull standing on the tip of the rock, which is less obvious above.

Lots of seagulls were hanging out on this large, flat rock subject to occasional splashing. Ocean Beach pier can be seen in the background.

And here’s a cropped close-up. I think there’s a cormorant hiding among his seagull brethren.

Time to head home and get across Sydney before the afternoon rush hour starts. Following the directions from my Samsung’s free Navigation app ‘Navigon’ we are amazed that the app did not find the turn off to the Expressway at Hexham. It took us into Newcastle!!!! following the old pre expressway route we all used 30 years ago!!! I think we will give this app a miss and give Jane of our TomTom her old job back.

We reached Wedderburn at lunchtime to find visitors. Geoff Airey, David Pryor and Fred, Margy’s dad. Geoff had flown in from Luskintyre airfield, near Newcastle in Geoff and David’s beautifully restored Stinson Voyager to meet up with Fred who drove out with David. We had lunch with them then Geoff and Fred went up to practice their aerobatics in Fred’s…

“Wishing you a Splendid New Year full of Sparkles” was how the eldest Pink Tornado, in full song and dance, went around greeting everyone during the Christmas Holidays.

Despite our seeing in the New Year pent up in a rather tired looking room at the Garden Court Hotel at Johannesburg Airport with nothing more than a cup of tea and a small packet of Dorito’s chips shared between the four of us AND after spending that entire day in flight from the UK back to South Africa AND both the adults of the group nursing head colds, complete with blocked noses, squeaking ear drums and obligatory ear ache, I’d like to at least share the sparkling sentiment with everyone and hope that 2013 is a great year for you all!

My husband and I just returned from a week-long trip to San Diego. Christmas just happened to be conveniently located within that time frame. Although most of the trip was chock full of activities, keeping us busy from morning until night, we had a spare hour on Christmas day sandwiched between opening presents in the morning and a big get-together in the afternoon. We spent that hour (1-2 pm) at Sunset Cliffs. Although not sunset, the sky was surprisingly orange.

Facing West, the orange sky is much less apparent, but still interesting above the rocky, reddish-brown and green shore.

As I sit in rainy, grey England, fighting a most exhausting head cold, it’s hard to believe that less than a week ago I walked along Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma, San Diego.

Seeing as how my energy is somewhat limited right now, I thought I’d just share a few of the pictures I’ve enjoyed looking at as I revisit my latest holiday. These images focus on seagulls within their environment (no close-ups), but if you look closely, you might see a cormorant, too.

This image is a crop of the first image to focus in on the seagull standing on the tip of the rock, which is less obvious above.

Lots of seagulls were hanging out on this large, flat rock subject to occasional splashing. Ocean Beach pier can be seen in the background.

And here’s a cropped close-up. I think there’s a cormorant hiding among his seagull brethren.

We had a delicious lunch at Kitchen by Mike. It is not an easy spot to get to without a car, but it is worth the trek, and made we wish Chicago would get with the program and think outside the box when setting up new and interesting restaurants. This one is in a warehouse that hosts many functions: eatery; furniture store; art gallery; and I hear they cater events too [read more here]. The lines were long, but they moved quickly towards the buffet lunch menu that was frequently replenished as food was flying out the door. Inventive salads [watermelon & heirloom tomato / another with nectarines], perfectly seasoned fish & chicken dishes, and excellent pizza too. Value for money with something for everyone.

Oh! And the bathrooms are worth checking out too, great use of recycled / industrial materials & fittings.

It wasn’t the five crushing finals threatening to drive me crazy by keeping me up until early in the morning studying for. It wasn’t packing up everything from the last five months into two airport approved suitcases in time to catch my 6am flight. It wasn’t the projects, presentations, and reviews that had to be completed before the 15th. It was hard saying goodbye to the city and the people I had formed this incredible bond with over the course of my study abroad program.